Jessica Chang
Historical Belonging
“There is a connection. My connection to New West is that I was growing up in Winnipeg… my grandparents retired to New West in 1945 and I was only ~8 years old when they moved here and I was really, really close to my grandmother so every summer I would come to New West and stay with them. I came here every year till I moved here until I turned 18 just to be with them. So, that’s my connection to New West.
The interesting part about that for me is that we were French-speaking people so I didn’t speak English. I learned to speak English here in New West. I remember looking out the window onto Eighth Street. There were huge houses, apartment blocks and trees, and learning to speak English. It started off reading the Kellogg’s cornflakes box.”
“These are my babies”– Margo
“My daughter is really interested in the family history and she wanted to check the graveyard certificate. We went to look for their graves, both my grandparents, and we couldn’t find it because they were Catholic and French-Canadian and there’s a little segregated section in the regular graveyard for the Catholics and the French-speaking.
So, my daughter did find out from the death certificate that my grandmother died on Christmas Day. This year, my daughter went and put a beautiful wreath on her grave for Christmas for the very first time.
This interview is but a glimpse into the mind of Margo Prentice. Her business card reads actor, director, comedienne, and writer.
[My grandparents] owned an apartment on the third floor where the Lions Moody Park Tower is. When I decided to retire here myself, I felt historically that I belonged here because of my connection with my grandparents. And the precise place that they owned – the apartment block – which is now Lion’s Tower, I applied there. I kept applying, and applying to be there. I felt historically that I had a right to be there. Finally, I succeeded and I had a lovely place on the 9th floor.”